James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

On Sunday in East Durham, New York, I attended a tribute concert for Irish whistle and flute player Mike McHale.

At the end of the concert, Mike played his whistle and told how he got started in the music. The son of a schoolmaster in Tulsk, County Roscommon, he was given a toy whistle at age six. He rode his bicycle many miles to hear the great musicians of his day playing in sessions. But he wasn't allowed to join in, even though he had learned many of the tunes. The whistle wasn't considered a worthy instrument at the time.

After listening to a session, Mike would ride home along dark streets on rainy nights, trying to keep the tunes in his head. Sometimes an elusive melody would pop into his head in the middle of the night, and he'd go downstairs into the kitchen in the dark, take out the whistle and play the tune when the rest of the house was asleep. That's when his mother knew he would be a musician. "Now I know all musicians are mad," she said.

His big breakthrough came when he was sitting in the shadows behind the older players. One day they couldn't remember how a certain tune sounded. He reached in his pocket, pulled out the whistle, and played it out from memory. That was his ticket into the royal circle. Someone gave him a flute and he was on his way at age 11. He went on to win the All-Ireland competition on the whistle, which is now an honored instrument in the Irish tradition, and Mike one of its greatest masters.

Sorry for that mangled sentence! It's 6:30 am here and I'm off caffeine. I wish there was an editing feature to this comments section.Not everyone is going to bother to take the simplest of objects accessible to the fullest realization of the finest glory. There are other paths. It's wonderful to hear of someone who has found something at such a young age and stuck with it, developing and honing the skill and art of it forever, to become a true master. Beautiful portrait! - mp

How do you deal with gouache for on-site work like this? Do you squeeze out the paint from tubes onto a small pallette, or does gouache also come in cake form? (Showing my gouache ignorance here...) It seems like that medium wouldn't lend itself to the hyper compact gear you usually use for field sketching. But the results sure are great!

Thanks, everybody. Tom, I was sitting off to the side at a little table where the musicians set their drinks. I had enough room to spread out: pencil box, tubes of paint, a little plastic lid for a palette, paint rag, two water cups, and brushes. The light wasn't too great, though, so it was hard to see what I was doing.

I'm in Ireland as I read this post so it's a perfect fit. We'll be listening to musicians and storytellers tonight as several of us gather in the living room with friends on the Beara peninsula, County Cork.

Steve--Have fun there! We love the Beara Peninsula. We stayed in Bantry County Cork and painted the wedge tombs thereabouts.

Greathouse, I used blue, red, yellow, black and white, squeezed out on a damp paper towel on a big yogurt lid. I started this sketch in colored pencil, but wanted to experiment with gouache. I've painted quite a bit of landscapes and cityscapes in it, but not many portraits, so I'm experimenting.

Thank you James for sharing your portrait and relating the story. It brings back many fond memories of the Rhinecliff hotel with Mike, Father Charlie, your son Danny and a cast of hundreds over the years. Besides the great music & stories that were told, we always enjoyed watching you sketch during the concerts.Thanks again,John & Ada